Poor Chunky has mega colon :(

As some of you may remember, my poor Chunk had an instance last summer where he was all backed up and we thought he may have had mega colon. He was slightly sedated, given an enema and closely watched for the next few weeks. This of course happened the day before we moved into our first home and my son was only 5 months old.

Fast forward to two weeks ago. Chunk went for his regular annual check up and vet felt that his abdomen felt funny. Being he had to go back in two weeks, she gave me the option to do an X-ray that day or when we were coming back (if necessary). I opted to see how the next two weeks went and if he still felt funny, we would X-ray. (He was eating and going to the bathroom fine).

Well, we returned there on Saturday and his abdomen still felt funny, so we did the X-ray. His colon was full again. The thing that baffled us was that he seemed unaffected by the whole thing. My vet didn't want to sedate him again (because of the breed of course), so we fed him half his usual food and she had me giving him Lactulose and Miralax three times a day. We went back yesterday, she felt he definitely made some progress but still had more to go. So she upped the med doses and switched his food. He's on Royal Canin gastrointestinal low fat. I'm not a fan of royal canin and she knows that but her priority is to get this issue worked out without sedation and then we can work on food choices again. Which I agree with. I guess my question is - has anyone dealt with these specialized foods before? The idea is that it's low residue/low fiber, easily digestible. I am hoping to find a food that does the same thing but from a better brand. I know @cowsmom is our resident food expert but I of course welcome any and all advice!

You can close your eyes to things you don't want to see,
but you can't close your heart to the things you don't want to feel.♥Live Genuinely ♥

Re: Poor Chunky has mega colon :(

I'm so sorry...it's good he seems not to be bothered by it... but jeeeez! I'm not a fan of any of these foods...but...I do believe they have their place. I would use it temporarily and work on finding a long term REAL food...give Chunk a please...

I'm so sorry...it's good he seems not to be bothered by it... but jeeeez! I'm not a fan of any of these foods...but...I do believe they have their place. I would use it temporarily and work on finding a long term REAL food...give Chunk a please...

Re: Poor Chunky has mega colon :(

awww poor chunk. I'm on my phone the next few days so I'm limited right now but what food was he on the two times this happened and is he eating anything else such add treats or people food. since its short term and is helping then feed the royal canin till he is better and we can work something else out. I think we need bev @Twice here to she will have some natural remedies to help him clear out I'm sure. hang in there dear

Re: Poor Chunky has mega colon :(

awwwwww! Poor Chunkers!

Oh well, you can always switch up foods later. If that S Diet gets that stuff moving thru and out of the colon -- great.

What causes this? Is it a hereditary thing or ? Perhaps there is a high fiber diet you can feed going forward that will help keep things moving thru after he's "emptied"? Everyone disses that brand but maybe we've just found the one good thing it does do --- make dogs with colon issues poop!

Re: Poor Chunky has mega colon :(

I hope Chunk feels better soon. Last year when Ulysses was having tummy troubles our vet recommended us to give him science plan sensitive stomach. It was not too bad in the beginning and it did help his diarrhoea stop. When he had a very bad kennel cough he was also given that science plan dissolvable liquid meal that looks like milk. I mean, they did help but they are just short term solutions of course, but I think that in your case since it's something that has to come out and hopefully a short treatment it might be OK. But then again really only short term, because after the whole tummy issue, our vet insisted and insisted to continue with the science plan diet, and so we did, and it did help his stools become harder but his coat was falling like crazy, his tear stains were huge and so on..... so in the end it caused a whole new series of troubles. I have tried them both and I personally don't like science plan and royal canine at all. But the better brands don't really have prescription foods, so I guess when the situation comes one has to stick with those. Give it a try of course, and when the issue is solved look for a good food that helps him not to have this issue again. Fingers crossed everything works out fine.

Re: Poor Chunky has mega colon :(

Poor Chunkmyster.... buddy, Momma will get you back on track. Hugs to Chunk and you too Turi. SD short term will be good for him and give you time to work with the food guru's to find him what will work best.

Keep us posted and give him super big from me

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There is a part of your heart not alive until a bulldog has entered your life.Nitschke (2004-2011) and Banks (2005-2014) -- My angels Thank you for all the love, fun and teachings

Re: Poor Chunky has mega colon :(

@Chunksmama Is it the high energy? Mia had a gastro inflamation a few weeks back (vomiting and a bit of diahrea, fever). The vet said she was to have nothing to eat except a few tablespoons every 1-2 hours of this food until she improved. We kept her on it for about 4-5 days and she did really well on it. She had runny poos since the day we got her at 8 1/2 weeks old (the breeder was feeding her a Walmart holistic brand) ( she got sick @ about 11-12 weeks). And this High Energy food seemed to improve that as well. I have since switched her back to Canine Caviar GF puppy and she has been doing very well ever since good luck! I hope Chunky is better soon!!

Re: Poor Chunky has mega colon :(

If he is having constipation issues what he needs is an all natural diet. Dry foods (no matter how well rated) are all processed and include things that our dogs really don't need. You might want to think about home cooked or raw for him. Definitely add some kefir to all of his meals, kefir has 4 times the probiotic enzymes as yogurt and will help him digest more of what he is eating.

If you decide to cook for him I'd recommend adding lots of leafy greens for fiber content. Spinach, kale.... whatever you can find that he likes and dump some raw ACV in there too.

Thanks everyone!
@cowsmom He was on Blue Wilderness salmon and then Blue basics Salmon. I was thinking of trying Fromm again since their are more varieties now than when I first tried two years ago. Of course I need to get through this first

I think many of you are correct, this food may be good for just this specific need and short term. My vet knows my feelings on these foods and anticipates my want for change once he's a little more settled. She agrees, understands and supports my food views.

@Twice we are on low fiber, while it normally helps to have fiber with constipation - it's different with mega colon. Basically, he needs something very easily digestible. I was thinking about cooking for him (my vet is nervous about raw because of the bacteria, which I also agree but only because I have a toddler running around tasting everything, including Chunk's food lol). My problem with cooking is that he's allergic to chicken and beef so the protein source could be difficult. That and, at the risk of sounding absolutely terrible, finding the time. If I could basically make a huge pot of whatever for the week and just let it cook then divvy it up, that would be perfect and would probably be the only way I could do it. I work full time, have a teenager and a toddler and my husband is gone 12+ hours a day. I spend my days running around like a chicken without a head and don't even get to make real dinner every night. :/

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You can close your eyes to things you don't want to see,
but you can't close your heart to the things you don't want to feel.♥Live Genuinely ♥